Friendship, Love and Justice! IC

[Ezeze]

This is the IC Thread

Here is a link to the OOC thread.

Outa Tsutsuji makes great pancakes. He goes out of his way to make them on mornings when his daughter, Hisoka, and her friends Naomi, Hinata and recently Mitsuki as well, spend the night. And since the Tsutsuji household is large enough to support such a gathering, and since their name carries enough respect that parents are quite glad to see their children spend nights there, Outa gets to make his pancakes frequently.

He made them this morning, for instance. Enough for six people; himself, his wife (who ate quickly before running out the door with a goodbye kiss for her husband), and for his daughter and her friends who stayed over last night. He jokes over breakfast that he'd never see Hisoka if he didn't make his pancakes, considering how busy all of her clubs keep her.

When the four of you have eaten and grabbed your backpacks it's time for the (thankfully short) walk to school.

[~Corvus~]

Mitsuki is holding a pancake, and slowly eating it as they continue towards school. Conveniently, she has a reason not to talk at the moment.

[Vordar]

For a moment, Hinata considers asking her cousin why on earth she would try to eat a soggy pancake with her hands, and whether she was even going to bother washing them before touching her school supplies. However, she decides to ignore it, because she should be used to it by now, and she suspects that Mitsuki would conveniently have her mouth full even if she tried to ask. Instead, she turns to Hisoka.
"Thanks for having us over, by the way".

[Marcivo]

"Agreed," mumbled Naomi, mirroring the sentiment, but too engrossed in...something to elaborate.

It was usually like that with her. Every morning, like clockwork, Naomi took her seat at the breakfast table, found the nearest outlet, and connected. It didn't matter if she was home or not, visiting relatives, or with her friends. Mornings meant three things to Naomi: breakfast, work, and emails. So it was, so it had always been. She wasn't about to change that on account of something as antiquated as table manners, not when there was unfinished work to be done, not when she had an audience to please.

On this particular morning, Naomi wore a dark blazer atop the usual school uniform, and against her usual protocol had grudgingly decided to accessorize with a hairband. Her cell phone sat in her top pocket, visible only for the bone-white headphone wire that snaked its way around her jacket and into a pair of ear buds nestled carefully in the neck of her collared shirt. As far as anyone knew, she'd never talked about what kinds of music she listened to. As far as she knew, no one had ever asked.

"All right," she breathed a minute later. Or maybe it was an hour. "Almost...done."

Her fingers glided over the keyboard, a crescendo of clicks. Confidence and precision in every stroke. They danced an unusual dance - unusual, that is, to anyone who'd never seen someone typing on a dvorak keyboard before.

She had barely touched the pancakes.

[Snacs]

Hisoka Tsutsuji looked radiant, even in pajamas. y the time breakfast was done she was fully dressed, her bag resting by the door ready for her. She ate delicately, wishing her Mother a nice day as she rushes out the door, laughing quietly at her friends early-morning jokes, and chatting comfortably with her Father.

"Father! That's entirely untrue!"She said brightly, even as she gave her father a kiss on the cheek and helped move the dishes to the sink, before leaving with the rest of her friends.

As they walk to school Hisoka sets herself between hinata and Naomi, wearing her pressed school uniform, her backpack slung casually over her shoulder. Her kendo stick is cradled in one arm as she chats with Hinata.

"Oh it's quite alright, it's fun to have people over, and Father does love to hear people compliment his cooking." She leans over to peer over Naomi's shoulder, humming slightly to herself."Sometimes I think you'd eat emails over food if you could."Her smile and tone kept the words harmless, gently nudging the wireless-connected schoolgirl pleasantly.

[~Corvus~]

Mitsuki reflects on her walk to school. She touches her hair, wondering if she'd be okay.

She had stopped as she walked out the door, and had realized that the others weren't finished yet. She took the opportunity to finish her pancake and then pulled out a black handkerchief out from a pocket in her baggy, divided skirts, and wiped her hands and her mouth to her satisfaction. She turned and paused by a reflection of sun outside on a window of the Tsutsuji's house, took out her brush from her schoolbag, and brushed her hair patiently, waiting serenely for all of the others to finish their socializing and realize that they need to get along to school.

Satisfied, nodding to herself at what she'd done, she turns her attention to what's happening with her friends.

"Sometimes I think you'd eat emails over food if you could."Her smile and tone kept the words harmless, gently nudging the wireless-connected schoolgirl pleasantly.

Mitsuki laughs congenially, putting in her own comment in a similarly harmless manner She's a competitive e-mailer.

[Marcivo]

Naomi smirked at the schoolgirl leaning over her shoulder. Click. She'd been playing with her cell phone since they left the house, but off it went and vanished back into her pocket. Something tinny and vaguely classical-sounding blared in one of her dangling earbuds.

"You wish you were as popular as me," she grinned. "Where would all those poor, lost souls be without me to answer their cries for help? Nowhere, that's where."

[Vordar]

"But now, we have you alllllll to ourselves," Hinata chimed in, grinning triumphantly. She picked up her pace, doubling back as soon as the other girls were out of earshot. She certainly enjoyed the company, but she often felt as though the rest of the world was far too slow for her liking.

[Marcivo]

"Creepy." Naomi let the word drag out, just a little bit, but there was still a smile in her voice.

A second later, she reached into her pocket and glanced at her cell phone. Urgh. Force of habit, more than anything. She hadn't actually received a new message in more than twenty minutes.

[Snacs]

Hisoka gave a soft laugh, glancing slyly at Naomi as she glanced at her phone again.

"Well just don't let any of the teachers catch you. I think you'd explode if they took it for the day." The student council president shook her hair out and shifted her bag as they approached the school, laughing again as Hinata jogged forward and back so impatiently.

[~Corvus~]

Mitsuki bears all of these antics quietly. One could even say that she's being patient, but perhaps that's giving her too much credit. She has a smile on her face, and if Naomi looks at her, she indicates that her phone is kept in her belt pouch. If not, she simply pockets her hands and listens attentively to their conversation, not feeling a need to interject her attention.

[Marcivo]

Naomi narrowed her eyes a little at Hisoka's comment. A bitter look spread across her face.

"They wouldn't dare," she said, with a sudden laugh. "If it weren't for me, who would help organize student activities? Student council?"

It was always like that with Naomi - the sudden jabs, the lilting tone of phrase. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking sometimes, or whether the schoolgirl was ever genuinely offended. She took out her phone again, checked the time almost on impulse, and then started punching a message into the display.

A moment later, Mitsuki's belt pouch buzzed with the confirmation of a received text message.

<GAIJIN: What's on your mind?>

[~Corvus~]

Mitsuki guwaffs as she receives the text, and gives Naomi one of those looks that says, I see what you did there. She reaches into her pouch and replaces her phone after reading the text message. She speaks to the group at large: Speaking of organizing activities, how is everyone's composition essay doing? Mine could use someone else's input. Are any of you up to trading papers and giving each other suggestions?

[Vordar]

Upon hearing Mistuki's suggestion, Hinata immediately perks up. "Seriously? Can we do that? Can we? I don't even know where to start with mine!", she exclaims with an exaggerated groan.
It does occur to her that she might have been able to at least come up with an outline if she had started working on it when it was assigned, but she'd had kung fu lessons, and then decided to go running, and then been invited to Hisoka's house, so it wasn't as though it was her fault that she couldn't find time before.

[Ezeze]

The chatter breaks up out of some unspoken mutual agreement as the pack of friends hit the inner halls of school. Naomi parts from the others with a casual wave, her homeroom being on the other edge of school. They likely wouldn't see each other again until after school - it was true that they had been friends since childhood, but Naomi often tried to spend her lunches with other students in her grade (and, of course, on her phone).

Spoiler: Mitsuki, Hinata, Hisoka

Show

You get to homeroom with maybe two minutes to spare - which is enough time to get seated, get comfortable, and chat a little longer about the essay due later this week. Hisoka confesses that hers is already finished, which surprises no-one, but also adds that she'd be happy to help Mitsuki during lunch today.

Koizumi-Sensi - your homeroom teacher - positively floats into the classroom, and just before the bell rings. It's unlike her to be late, and it's also unlike her to grin from ear to ear like that. Good morning, students! She chimes. You hear another student, somewhere in the classroom behind you, whisper her date must have gone well to a chorus of stifled giggles that Koizumi-Sensi doesn't seem to hear. She spends a few more moments organizing her notes and talking about how chivalry isn't dead and the boys in class should keep in mind that the real difference between a boy and a man is how he treats his female companion, and while trips to high-end restaurants certainly aren't a necessity or at least she isn't the kind to demand them, they really are appreciated. Oh! And another thing! she announces without changing tone. We have a new exchange student joining us today. Please join me in welcoming Eiko Maki!

The young woman who opens the door into your classroom looks like someone your age, but the expression on her face is one of calm confidence mixed with determination; an expression you don't often see on a high school girl. She doesn't smile, she doesn't look nervous. She is tall (for your age), her hair is shiny black and long enough to reach past her waist, and her skin is flawless. Please, call me Eiko she bows, very politely, to the entire class but, you swear, she spends the entire time glaring at the three of you. Once she has been introduced she walks between the desks, past two other empty seat, and takes the seat directly behind Hinata, where none of you can see her without turning a full 180 degrees in your seat. That taken care of Koizumi-Sensi continues with her "lesson" as if nothing had happened.

But however paranoid Eiko's glares may have made you, she sits quietly behind you and gives you no call to remember her existence until gym class. You've been doing track and field for the last few months. The three of you are warming up when you see a number of students start running towards where the high-jump. Wow, Eiko-chan! one of the cheerleaders exclaim You just broke the regional record! Those of you who glance over notice that Eiko herself seems unimpressed, despite the praise that her accomplishments have earned from several of the more sport-oriented girls likely trying to recruit her for their teams...

Following gym is lunch. Lunch at Anome High is long - a full hour and a half - and all of the grades take it at the same time to encourage "school spirit," and also because many clubs take advantage of the time slot to meet. In another odd twist of events none of Hisoka's clubs are meeting today, so she can sit with Mitsuki and Hinata as the three eat.

May I join you? You hadn't notice Eiko approach before she spoke. Only the three of you are sitting at your table, so it's impossible that she's talking to anyone else. You may have assumed, with looks and athleticism like hers, that she'd be eating with the cheerleaders, but here she is lunchbox in hand. For the first time she actually does look a little nervous.

Spoiler: Naomi

Show

Your day is utterly normal. Homeroom followed by math followed by English followed by lunch - which is a full half hour long, and all of the grades take it at the same time. That means you could spend it with your friends Mitsuki, Hinata and Hisoka, but more often you spend it with Kazue and Kayo Oshiro - twins, almost (but only almost) as into computers are you are, and a gaggle of another 4-5 friends all from your same grade. They are older than you, but accept you mostly because you know more about computers than any of them. It's not like the friendship you share with Mitsuki, Hinata and Hisoka - it's more like a business arrangement. You help them with some of their more obscure computer problems (which, you admit, you find some degree of satisfaction in), and they talk to you a little when you hang out near them and discuss schoolwork, which makes it look like you've adjusted well and are popular to any worried councilors and, perhaps more importantly, any bullies who might be jealous of your success. None of this was specifically stated by anyone, but you feel it is tacitly understood. After all, however friendly they are to you during school hours you have never been to the Oshiro house, have never met their parents, and have certainly never had pancakes with them in the morning.

During lunch you're vaguely aware of the conversation around you; Isn't Shipiro-senpai funny! You only think that because you like him Ugh, so much math homework! Goyzu-sensei must think we all have no lives since you know he was a total dork in high school. Hey Manami-chan, did you hear there was a new freshman transfer student? She broke your high jump record!Oh wow, maybe that means the gymnastics club will finally stop bothering me to join. Good luck with that! They're completely in love with you! followed by a chorus of giggles. No one has spoken to you directly though, so you mostly keep on with your phone. Out of the corner of your eye you see Mitsuki, Hinata and Hisoka sitting at a table. A new girl, someone you've never seen before, is talking to them. The has long black hair, and even from this distance you can guess that she's quite attractive.

[Snacs]

Hisoka meets the new girl's glare with a small, welcoming smile and a pleasant expression. It's probably hard moving to a new school mid-semester after all. She continues to pay attention to the teacher's lecture with the same dedication she always does, ignoring the presence behind her calmly.

"Really Mitsuki! I can't believe you didn't do your essay again."Hisoka says with a disappointed sigh as she leans back from her lunchbox and the stack of books next to her to stretch her back, sighing in disappointment.

"What would you do some days if I was out sick?" She said into a bite of her food, glancing up as Eiko approached. She smiled as the girl asked to join them, waving her closer with a friendly air.

"Of course Maki-san, please join us." She spoke politely, offering the chair opposite hers as she resumes eating.

[~Corvus~]

"Really Mitsuki! I can't believe you didn't do your essay again."Hisoka says with a disappointed sigh as she leans back from her lunchbox and the stack of books next to her to stretch her back, sighing in disappointment.

"What would you do some days if I was out sick?" She said into a bite of her food, glancing up as Eiko approached. She smiled as the girl asked to join them, waving her closer with a friendly air.

Mitsuki fishes in her backpack and hands Hisoka her twelve-page composition. Bakaaaa, you have me confused with my cousin. I just have a lot to say and write about, but it may be a bit much. She looks over to Hinata, whom is probably worrying about her piece even more now. I'm confident I'll do well, but even so, I think Hinata could help with taking out any boring bits. She's a better writer than she has patience for. Besides, we also have someone new. she pauses in contemplation.

Of course, if she already broke a record, she probably also had hers done by the time she got here today she says as she looks at the new girl.

[Ezeze]

Please, call me Eiko the new girl says as she takes her seat. The record is not important she says in response to Mitsuki. There is no trace of irony or modesty in her voice - she means exactly what she said, and seems disinclined to speak further on the matter. Instead she opens her own lunch box and begins to quietly eat it, starting along the outside edges and working inwards in a counter-clockwise circle.

[Vordar]

As this conversation was taking place, Hinata was quickly putting together the finishing touches on her outline. Then, confident that she could finish the rest later, she put her notebook away and turned to Eiko. "By the way, I'm Hinata Manami, and these are my friends, Mistuki Manami and Hisoka Tsutsuji. It's nice to meet you."

[Marcivo]

Dreck, dreck, new student…dreck. Naomi sipped her tea, mentally categorizing the other girls’ conversation topics – vapid though they were, she liked to tick them off one-by-one whenever someone’s voice happened to rise above the din of the crowded lunchroom. She thought of it as data mining, so to speak, another way to tune in and zone out. Naomi smirked, refilling her cup from the thermos. Another way to keep tabs on her peers while secretly slacking off.

Speaking of work. Naomi turned aside and opened her laptop’s lid, and the screen instantly came to life.

It swam with feeds – Foul play suspected in Tokyo hanging. Naomi sniffed. Unrest following Iranian delegation shooting. Thousands protest as Australia prepares for war. Ah!, she perked up, reaching the end of the final text marquee. An email.

It was an email from the student organizations committee, requesting the number of attendees the CS Club would like to commit to an upcoming career planning fair. Boring. Naomi made a conservative guess and sent the committee a two-line response. She CC’d each club member with a request for volunteers.

<To: CS Affiliates>
<A Message from the Presidentoverlord: Be there or be square.>

Her obligations fulfilled, she snapped her laptop shut and excused herself from the table.

She had fish to fry.

---------

Her eyes passed over them, one by one.

Naomi stood above her cohorts several minutes later, arms crossed and back straight.

"Hisoka. Mitsuki. Hinata."

And then Naomi's eyes fell upon the remaining student, the one she didn't recognize. Naomi's memory was perfect. She could pick out anyone from a lineup of every girl in school. It had to be the transfer student, then. The one who was currently sitting in her spot and eating with her friends. Naomi's lips twitched into a tiny frown, but she was prepared to let it slide. For now.

"Hey there, fresh meat."

[Ezeze]

Eiko nods in response to Hinata's introduction. She glances up momentarily when Naomi joins the table, then puts down her chopsticks.

When she begins speaking she does it quietly, staring down at her lunch box the entire time. You're all here then. That's good. It means I only have to say this once.

"Your lives are pretty good right now. I know they have their difficulties - with parents" she looks at Naomi "with figuring out who you are and what you can do" her eyes scan the other assembled girls. "But mostly it's just teenager stuff, and even when it's not you're going to come out of it just fine because you have each other. So if someone offers you something in the next few days... Just remember what it is you'd be giving up."

It's such a strange speech, and out of no where... The new girl Eiko gathers her things and stands and starts to walk away.

[Marcivo]

You've got to be joking. Naomi rolled her eyes and took her proper seat as the new girl got up to leave.

"Yeah. Thanks, mom," she called after her, even as her own face heated up with sympathetic embarrassment.

[Vordar]

Although Hinata found Naomi's reaction to the transfer student understandable, she couldn't help but be a little bit amused."C'mon, Naomi, it's fine. We got our table back, see?" she interjects. She then turns to the other girls. "Still, 'in the next few days'? That's...weirdly specific, isn't it? And did she seriously come over here just to tell us that? Seriously, what the heck?"

[~Corvus~]

Mitsuki had been embarrassed to say anything to the new girl, but upon Naomi's and Hinata's reactions, she makes eye contact with her friends and gives a wry smile. What we'd be giving up...? As she speaks, she makes a gesture of uncertainty and swings her gaze to her other two friends. She wonders to herself, Why is she warning about sacrifices? We're not old enough to really think too seriously about that.

Thinking out loud, she says, Well, if it's my friends, I don't want to give you all up. She looks around again. Koooowaaaiiii she intones, looming above Hinata like ghost, trying to diffuse the situation.

[Marcivo]

Naomi facepalmed for the first time that day.

"Don't you two start with me. I've had enough crazy for one afternoon, thanks." She sternly contemplated her tea for a moment, then leaned forward and took a conservative sip. The tea came in an insulated flask, one with the kind of top that unscrewed and turned into a little cup. Naomi carried it with her every single day, and she liked drinking it on occasions such as this, times when she felt bitter and annoyed. "I didn't catch her name," she said, flatly. "What were you guys talking about before I got here?"

[~Corvus~]

Naomi facepalmed for the first time that day.

"Don't you two start with me. I've had enough crazy for one afternoon, thanks." She sternly contemplated her tea for a moment, then leaned forward and took a conservative sip. The tea came in an insulated flask, one with the kind of top that unscrewed and turned into a little cup. Naomi carried it with her every single day, and she liked drinking it on occasions such as this, times when she felt bitter and annoyed. "I didn't catch her name," she said, flatly. "What were you guys talking about before I got here?"

We were talking about our papers, but that discussion is about done for now.

[Vordar]

Hinata shrugged. "Honestly, you didn't miss much," she added. "We were talking about looking over each other's composition essays later on, and then Eiko-san suddenly showed up, but she barely even said anything 'till you got here." She looked up at Mistuki. "Baka, you couldn't get rid of us if you tried," she said, grinning. Sure, it was obvious, but maybe it still needed to be said once in a while.

Hinata felt as though she should probably forget that whole exchange and go back to whatever it was she was doing before, but the transfer student's warning was so maddeningly vague that she couldn't quite get herself back on track. Still, she did not seem inclined to say anything more, so either they would forget about it, or they would find out just what she was talking about. She dug her notebook back out of her bag and willed herself to concentrate.

[Snacs]

"She was introducing herself Naomi, it's what new students should do to make friends." Hisoka says primly as she tucks her lunchbox away delicately, chopsticks and napkins folded inside it carefully so as not to rattle. Throughout Eiko's strange speech she'd simply watched the girl quietly, passively.

Though...hmm." She tilts her chair back, putting a pencil to her lips pensively, clearly mulling over something to herself. Finally she shrugs and cracks open one of her textbooks loudly, eyeing the two less-than-studious schoolgirls beside her with cold contemplation. "Either way it's time to get both of you two up to standard on those essays."


"Her name is Eiko Maki-san, by the way." She filled Naomi in idly.

[Marcivo]

"Hell of a way to do it," Naomi muttered, quietly mulling over the girl's mannerisms. "Good thing she's so talented, 'cause she could definitely work on her pitch."

And was she a weird one. A foreigner? They'd said she was a transfer student, but a transfer from where? Naomi cleared her throat took another sip of tea, mentally filing away the new girl's name for now. Later on, on her own time, with a proper computer and out of sight of all her friends and classmates, she'd scour the usual channels for information on the schoolgirl. For now, Naomi sat, and watched her friends struggle to complete their essays with a faintly amused grin on her face.

[Ezeze]

Eiko simply isn't in class for the rest of the day.

Less than two periods after lunch news reaches your ears that Manami Ito - the original holder of the high jump record, still a 3rd year in Naomi's class - beat Eiko's record, though she still refuses to join the gymnastics club. The teachers make a big deal out of it, joking that all Ito-san needed was a little competition. Eiko's name isn't mentioned again after that.

After school Hisoka has work to do for the Student Council, Hitsuki and Hinata team up to knock out their homework and Naomi runs off to do god only knows...

Spoiler: Naomi

Show

You don't forget so easily. That girl knew something about you she wasn't supposed to - you set out on your search to return the favor and...

and it's really easy. Almost shockingly so. The girl has internet presence all over MyFace and Pinstagram, and doesn't even have privacy measures turned on. It isn't unusual for some people your age to be completely unconcerned with internet privacy, but it surprises you a little to learn it of her when you consider how mysterious and cagey she was acting in school.

It takes you no time flat to find out that she didn't transfer from another school - she "transferred" from a hospital, where she has spent the last two years going through intense treatments and then physical therapy for a degenerative bone disease. You've never heard of the disease before, but a quick internet search turns up some interesting facts. It tends to manifest in childhood, for example. While with treatment the disease can be slowed down a lot it's still incurable and the damage is irreversible. No one with it should be able to break athletic records - especially not in something like the high jump which is notoriously difficult on the joints.

There is something else. She has pictures from as recent as a week ago of her in a hospital bed and, while it's definitely the same person that you saw today - the face hasn't changed at all - in all of her pictures she has thick, black glasses and her hair is much duller, always pulled back into pigtail braids. There are no pictures of her without the glasses. Maybe she is wearing contacts or got lasik? But there is no mention of either of those things. Plus she looks maybe 10-15lbs heavier in the photos.

Her Pinstagram page is flooded with pictures of animals. Adorable cats, dogs and horses take center stage, but there are even some pictures of animals that would make most girls in your grade scream or run like snakes and mice. Her profile picture is of her on horseback with a giant grin on her face. In her "about me" section she claims to want to be a veterinarian when she grows up. She also has occasional pictures and music videos from Babie Mao, a popular singer known for bi-lingual love songs and bright pink hair, and is apparently a member of her fan club. She'll occasionally caption linked videos with comments about hoping to one day find "the one" like Babie sings about.

Almost all of her MyFace friends fall into one of three groups; family, other kids from hospitals or fans of Babie Mao. She also seems to play "Barn-Ville" a lot.

... but you all manage to meet up at the park a full hour before sunset, just to spend time shooting the breeze with your best friends.

You've only been there for five minutes, tops, when you hear a voice, pleading help me no one around, except the four of you, react. But it repeats its self help me, please and then a scream Ahhhh! - definitely coming from the abandoned administrative buildings off to the right...